The life and times of my natural, crazy, coily hair as we both buck the creamy crack for good!

Posts Tagged ‘AfroVeda’

Do I really have to tell you guys which brand of product I ended up having to fix on my own after buying 8 ounces of it and seeing it separate into a blob of butters with oils on top?

After that purchase, AfroVeda could officially suck it. I. Was. PISSED! My full-sized Totally Twisted Ginger Almond Butter separated before I could even use it for the first time! I kept having to stir it and put it on my hair quickly, before it separated again, but it looked so gross! I finally got sick of that little game and decided to put my knowledge of basic chemistry (and google) to use.

When a product separates, i.e. splits into oils and butters rather the luscious cream that you thought you bought, what’s happening is the emulsion is falling apart.

Oils and butters sometimes will not stay mixed, just as oil and water won’t, because the molecules of one substance act as little bar magnets (in that they have poles) whereas the other molecules do not. That attraction, or at least some strong hydrogen bonding, is needed for an emulsion to occur, in which one material is suspended in the other.

If you find that you have two substances that will not stay emulsified, you must use an emulsifier to stabilize the emulsion. Emulsifiers come in many shapes and forms: I, personally, ended up heading to Whole Foods and buying some liquid lecithin for about $5.99. It’s a natural emulsifier and some even take it as a supplement (for what reason, I do not even claim to know). I poured about a teaspoon into the 8 ounces of slop, mixed with an electric mixer, and put the butter back into it’s original container. Two days later, there is, admittedly, a little oil on top of the cream, but not even an eighth of what was there before! That’s a huge improvement!

As for AfroVeda…

I’ve never had the distinct pleasure of dealing with their customer service (this was an on-the-ground purchase), but the quality of the full-sized Totally Twisted Ginger Almond Butter just baffled me. What made things worse was the fact that the solution was so simple, and quick to boot. I’ve heard that the owner of AfroVeda has no help with her business, but selling a product in that condition is just unacceptable. Add to that mixture the huge price-hike in her products and my anger sits on top. This just won’t work.

Throughout the history of the world, there have been many famous and infamous duos: Bonnie and Clyde, Sherlock Holmes and Watson… Wilt Chamberlain and the female population of North America…

But none has been so good to my hair as my official holy grails: AfroVeda’s Totally Twisted Ginger Almond Butter and PUR Whipped Gelly. And, seeing as I have NOT used these products separately (to an extent), and I therefore do not know how they behave separately, I will not review them separately.

Pur Whipped Gelly... a gel that doesn't harden my hair!

So… it all began with an innocent trip to Sage NaturalCeuticals to visit one of my favorite curlies, Cindy, for advice about my hair. Since my hair cut and living in “Hotlanta” (read: Hotter-than-Hell-lanta), my hair has been in desperate need of moisture and hold that will tolerate both the humidity and my… scalp sweat (eww, I know… but I do sweat on my scalp and I run a lot so that doesn’t help the situation at all). I increased my cowashing to twice a week and I clarify once every two weeks, but I still run at least once every two days, and my hair was showing it. Thank God for that puff I learned how to do earlier this month 😉

After listening to my hair woes and looking at my hair, Cindy suggested that I try the AfroVeda line, especially the PUR Whipped Gelly. She also made a pivotal suggestion: use the PUR Whipped Gelly with one of AfroVeda’s butters. I don’t exactly know why, but they work very well together. AfroVeda sells 4 different butters, each with different scents and specialties… and after trying and smelling each, I decided on the Totally Twisted for extra hold (the Shea Amla was a close contender, but, well, it just stunk).

So, with two surprising large containers of product and my debit card in hand, I strolled up to Cindy’s register, paid, and carried my cute little brown bag (delicately garnished with purple tissue paper) out of the store. Little did I know, this would be the beginning of a very beautiful relationship.

Pur Whipped Gelly is a quivering, grayish-white mass of hair goodness. The name “gelly” is very fitting and describes it’s consistence to a tee. It doesn’t really have a noticeable smell.

Totally Twisted can be described as a very thick, viscous butter that spreads easily. Something weird about this butter is that it separates, i.e. the oils tend to settle out of the butter. This is partially due to the fact that all of AfroVeda’s products are handmade and all natural, so the oils may not stay emulsified with the other ingredients in the butters. The scent is somewhat delicate, but I really can’t put my finger on it. Doesn’t smell like ginger or almond though.

How I use them:

First, I wash (or cowash) my hair in four sections, finger/Jilbere detangle while in the shower, and let my hair air dry for about thirty minutes while I do other things (such as studying, cooking, or brainstorming ideas for this blog). Then, I begin my braid n’ curl on wet (but not sopping) hair. I take small sections of my hair, apply the butter first, then seal with the whipped gelly and braid. After finishing my whole head, I put my rollers in and call it a night.

When I wake up in the morning, I take my hair down to find that my braid n’ curl is SUPER defined and very shiny. I mean, it’s got a shine to it rather than a sheen. I’m also able to get third and even fourth day hair with ease from these products, and they do NOT build up on my hair! Furthermore, my hair is very soft and touchable. It looks, smells, and feels so wonderful, I didn’t even want to put a clip in it this morning.

In conclusion, I’m very impressed with these products. They don’t provide any curl definition whatsoever, but they keep my hair moisturized and fly for days on end. As far as styling goes (such as twists, braid-outs, and the like), I highly recommend these products for anyone and everyone! Go get twisted and whipped (not necessarily in that order) with AfroVeda. You won’t regret it.